Mini Christmas Milk Cartons

Hello again, Crafty Friends. You'd be forgiven for thinking that nothing was going on craft wise for me based on this blog, but you'd be wrong! I've actually been doing quite a bit, but can't share the cards I've made until I know they've gone to their intended recipients. I like things to be a surprise!

Instead I've been making the most of some of the freebies I receive as part of my subscription to Simply Cards and Papercraft. This month it was a build-a-flower die, but I've not had any inspiration to use it yet, despite all the cards inside. They highlighted, however, that Papercraft Essentials (it's sister magazine), issue 124 had a great looking Christmas die and stamp set. I swithered about it, but I knew I wanted it, and when I saw that Liz McGuire of Buttons For Brains was doing the inspiration cards, I had to get it. So I did. And it's great.

I felt like pairing it up with my other great favourite, the Mini Milk Cartons from SCP issue 136. I think it works a treat.

I actually made two of them, the second being more successful than the first, so I'll tell you how I did the second! I cut my Bazzill Bling cardstock to size and scored it on the board, as per the instructions in the magazine. 

I then die cut out my Merry Christmas and holly onto green cardstock, putting some Stick It on the back. I decided second time round it was easier to put the die cuts onto the carton before making it up, as I do with the sticky tape. 

I then carefully stuck the cartons together. I say carefully because that tape is lethal if you get it wrong and tears the card badly if you have to remove it - it usually ruins it. But if you get it right, it sticks like super glue!

You can get two cartons out of one 12x12 piece of cardstock, but as you can see, on the second, the bottom piece is shorter. It didn't seem to matter too much, and I think the second actually looks neater.

I then stamped the robin onto some Neenah 110lb cardstock (it arrived this week from Simon Says Stamp!) in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured him with Copics, and carefully cut a circle out around him - I drew around a circle die cut as a template to make things easier.

I attached him to the top with twine, and added a mini peg for good measure. As I've mentioned before, you can get 4 Lindor in each one - they make a nice little gift.

Here are a few more arty shots - I'm getting used to my new camera. And just in case you are wondering why the holly berries are green, I'd like to say it was artistic licence, but sadly, it's just that I discovered that I don't have any red card stock at the moment - I shall rectify that soon!

[Supplies: Free die and stamp set from Papercraft Essentials issue 124; Scoreboard from SCP 136; Bazzill 12x12 cardstock; Super Sticky Red tape; Scissors; Manual Die Cutting Machine - mine is a Grand Calibur; Papermania Capsule 6x6 Solid Smooth Texture 75 sheets and coloured cardstock; Stick It; Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock; Memento Tuxedo Black; Red Baker's Twine (free with a magazine!); Copic Markers; Mini pegs - I actually got mine in Sainsburys, but they aren't listed online]


Thank you so much for reading. I really do cherish all your comments. Have a great weekend :)

P.S. Don't forget that there's a new Clearly Besotted release this Saturday (5th September, 10pm GMT). I know what I'm getting ;)

Graduation Thanks

Hello lovely readers! Sharing a very simple card with you today with the cutest set from last month's Clearly Besotted release. Sunday 5th was their latest release and I managed to get some more lovely stuff to play with - can't get enough of their things! The design team do such a good job of inspiring me.

On Wednesday it was nursery Sports Day and Graduation. Yes. Nursery graduation. It sounds like a silly idea, but really it's a way of saying farewell to those about to start school in September, and noting that they're about to start a new chapter. We went along to thank all the wonderful staff there who have helped our 4 year old turn into a confident and caring little girl. A card at least was required. (Don't worry, we also made thank you cakes!)

As you can see I've been practicing with my Copic markers. I met up with a crafty friend last Friday in the craft shop she works in not too far from here. She was so wonderfully helpful and I managed to get some more Copics as well as a myriad of other things.

Supplies: Clearly Besotted Let's Roll stamp and Let's Roll die set; Clearly Besotted Thanks Word die; Copic Ciao Markers; Stick It!; Foam Tape; Papermania 6x6 Capsule Collection; Ranger Multi Medium Matte; Memento Tuxedo Black

Apologies that the photo is not great. It's part of my birthday list to get a better camera, but that's not until November, I'm afraid.

It is so simple, just one of the CB Let's Roll hedgehogs stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with Copic Ciaos (E57, E59 for the prickles; E53, E51 for the face; E18 for the feet and YR02 for the ears). I stamped the mortar board and scroll onto pink paper and die cut them - talk about tiny dies!!! I die cut out the CB Thanks die with some Stick It! on the back to make it easier to adhere to the panel of white card. Stuck the hedgehog in between using Multi Medium Matte glue then his mortar board on top and then the scroll at the bottom. The card blank has two strips of 1.5cm pink card stock at either side and this adds some colour - pink is her favourite colour, which is why I chose it. The main panel is adhered with foam tape and I added some Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents to the scroll. Simple and effective!

Thank you for reading as always. Have a fantastic weekend as always. Here's a picture of those Thank You cakes - pink as well of course. It was a brilliant day despite the weather - well it has to rain on Sports Day!

 

It's a boy!

Hello, crafty friends. I don't know about you, but I can't believe it's July already. June was quite a crafty month with the Daily Marker 30 Day 2. I'm sad it's over, because I had so much fun learning new things, but all good things must come to an end, and it's time I started turning all that colouring into cards! 

Over on Instagram (it's lovely, really lovely, so much inspiration and friendly crafters!) I shared some colouring linked to a baby a friend was expecting. I hedged my bets and did two lots, one in pink and one in blue. I'm not usually quite so generic, but sometimes inspiration is lacking! Anyway, it turned out to be a boy, by the name of George, so blue it is!

I stuck with simple and decided to make a shaker too - any chance to get those Lucy Abram's shaker mixes out!

Supplies: White Card Blank (14.75x14.75cm); ME Up And Away Stamps and Dies; Papermania 6x6 Papers Capsule Collection; Memento Tuxedo Black; VersaMagic Dew Drop Night Sky; Derwent Artists Pencils; Caran D'Ache Metallic Pencils; LF Large Stitched Square Lawn Cuts; Acetate; Double-sided Tape; Red tape; Adhesive backed Fun Foam; CB Sweet Little Sentiments; Lucy's Little Things Shaker Sequin selection Glacier; Joe and Flo Baker's Twine; Sellotape Double Sided Sticky Foam Pads; Ranger Multi Medium Matte; Bazzill Cardshoppe - blue; VersaMagic Dew Drop Aspen Mist

I started by die cutting a square of blue Bazzill Cardshoppe using two of the LF large stitched square lawn cuts to make a frame. I then attached a piece of acetate to the back of the square aperture to start the shaker section. I then hand cut a piece of adhesive backed fun foam to match the size of the frame, and stuck it down on the back of my blue card. Face down on my craft mat I then filled the shaker section with lots of Lucy's lovely sequins and things. 

I then attached some very sticky red tape to the back of the fun foam, positioned it face down on my craft mat and attached the card base on the top. I'm getting better at this the more I do and this one is not too squint!

I then attached some baker's twine to the back of the balloons and then to the monkey's hand. Then, with double sided sticky foam pads, attached them to the card front as shown.

The sentiment is stamped in Aspen Mist and attached with sticky foam pads. The additional sequins started by covering a slight smudge, but I added a few more so it wasn't quite so obvious! They are stuck on with the Multe Medium Matte.

Hope you survived the mid week heat wave - that'll be summer over now in the UK, we've already had torrential rain today!

Do enjoy your weekend, whatever the weather. Thanks, as always, for reading :)

Home - again!

Hello, Crafty Fans! This latest project I can finally share with you as it made its way to its destination - sunny Switzerland!

It's gone to my best buddy and her lovely partner and family as they have recently moved to a new apartment with some much needed space.

I was inspired by a post from a member of the Sugar Pea design team, SemSee's Sparkly Scribblings, and decided to make a picture for their new wall. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and they like it too, so double yay!

[Supplies: Water colour paper; Spectrum Aquas - Floral and Essentials; Papermania Capsule Collection 6x6" paper pad; SugarPea Designs Homescape SugarCuts; Daler Rowney Graduate mount board]

I originally planned to frame it in an IKEA Ribba box frame, but frankly that was a silly idea given it had to fly to Switzerland, but I kept to the same dimensions, should they want to frame it. I started with a square of water colour paper around 6.25" - I wanted to have some overlap so it was slightly less than 6" framed - and did a wash of orange and pink Spectrum Aquas, so it would look like an evening sky now they have a better view from their window ;). I then got on with die cutting out the Homescape die. This die is great, because each end of it matches up so you can cut a continuous scene, and this means you can place it off one end of the paper, then match it to the end and cut again so that you get different orientations of the scene, making it much easier to create my scene above. I chose colours to match the sky.

I then took some mount board and made a frame to fit - there are lots of videos on YouTube and it was surprisingly simple. I shall try that again!

I also made a New Home card for them using the same colours of Spectrum Aquas:

[Supplies: Water colour paper;  Spectrum Aquas Floral; SugarPea Designs Home Sweet Home SugarCut; Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments; Versa Mark Ink; WOW! Bright White embossing powder; Stick It!; Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Square Lawn Cuts]
 

This was my first attempt at emboss resist. I die cut out the Home Sweet Home SugarCut with some Stick It! on the back and adhered it lightly to the middle of my water colour panel. I then stamped the 'new home' sentiment from my CB Sweet Little Sentiments set multiple times in Versa Mark and embossed them using WOW! Bright white embossing powder. I then washed the panel using three of my floral Spectrum Aquas (I think Marigold, Sunflower and Rose Pink). I carefully removed the now soggy paper 'HOME' to reveal it on the paper - I really like the effect. I simply trimmed the card and mounted on a 6x6" card blank. With the other one I die cut out a panel using my LF stitched square dies.

A little close up:

Thank you so much for reading. Hope the sun sets in beautiful colours wherever you are :)

 

CAS-ual Fridays CFC139 - Happy 4th Birthday!

I've decided to try my hand at another challenge, this time CAS-ual Fridays. I love popping along to their blog during the weeks the challenge is on and seeing what people create. The colours appealed to me this time, so I've given it a go. Honestly, my creations are nothing compared to the beautiful cards some people come up with, but it's all about practice, so here you are. I've come up with two because I always like to use the negative from a die cut where I can - waste not want not!

I started with some white card blanks and chose my turquoise and orange from my Papermania Capsule collection. I die cut the circles using my Spellbinders Nestabilities standard circles (large) and the dragonflies using the free die from Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 134. I adhered a dragonfly to its opposite colour circle before attaching as seen. The sentiment dies are from Clearly Besotted - happy and birthday - and die cut from my Papermania collection. I used some Stick It! I got from Make the Day Special - it's great stuff for intricate dies. I fussy cut the happy birthday from some white cardstock before adhering with foam tape to add a bit of lift. I've added a few sequins from the Lucy Abrams sequin mixes I bought with my last purchase from Clearly Besotted Stamps - this one is Glacier. They really are beautiful. 

This card is made from the negative of the happy birthday with a dragonfly and sequins as above. It's a tent fold this time. I tell you, getting all the little extra bits of paper from the die for the 'a' and 'h' etc was rather fiddly! 

So there you are, another challenge - that makes three this month. I'm getting carried away!

Thanks for reading, hope you've all had a good Monday!

Home - Where the Heart Is

Hello everyone! I've had quite a few goodies arrive in the post recently, not least the Sugar Pea 'Home' die that I've been waiting on for several weeks. It finally shipped over to the lovely people at Make The Day Special!

I've also three friends who have moved house recently, so I have to make those in the next week or so. Here's the first using that new die and also my new Spectrum Aqua markers that I got free through subscribing to Simply Cards and Papercraft. I've been playing around with them and watching lots of videos on YouTube for tips - I love the way they make really beautiful backgrounds so easily. Definitely a great free gift!

I started by taping down a piece of water colour paper onto my glass cutting mat and block colouring it using three of my Spectrum Aqua markers (Heather, Orchid and Wildflower). I then washed them over with water to blend them together. After waiting for it to dry, I splashed it with water and then blotted it dry, leaving nice splatters.

I then took the HOME die and cut it out twice from two shades of purple paper, adhering the houses in the bottom right. I placed the 'Home' as in the picture, accenting it with some die cut hearts from my Lawn Fawn Best Pun Ever set. I used one for the 'O' of 'Home' instead of the house and added some Wink of Stella and glossy accents to make it pop out a bit - Home is where the heart is after all!

I think this might be the first card I've made that didn't have any stamping on it!

I've followed the layout for this month's Make the Day Special Challenge, as I'd like to enter. They give such brilliant customer service, so any excuse to buy things there ;)

Hope you like it and thanks for reading!

My first shaker card!

Hello everyone, hope you're looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend - those in the UK, at least! 

Tonight I'm bringing you my first ever shaker card. I have tried these before, without much success. Now I'm not saying it's perfect, but it does work and half the sequins aren't on the floor. I think I need a bit more practice, so this is hopefully the first of a few. No doubt a splurge on some nice sequins will be required - #impoverishedhappycrafter :)

  
I've made it using some of the new things I received the other day in my haul. It's a basic 6x6 card blank with a piece of Lawn Fawn Let's Polka as backing. The shaker part is a nice grey from my Papermania capsule collection, die cut with the new Lawn Fawn stitched squares - they cut beautifully - filled with some sequins from Hobbycraft. I need some Pretty Pink Posh! 

I wanted to see the backing paper through the shaker box, so it is backed with acetate to contain the sequins before attaching to the card - did I mention before that usually they end up on the floor? Some time looking at how to make shaker card videos might be well spent over the next couple of days.

The set is Mama Elephant Up and Away, stamped in various Memento dye inks, coloured with Derwent pencils. The balloons are coloured using my metallic Caran D'Ache, with a bit of Wink of Stella and glossy accents. The fox is hanging on with some red baker's twine.

I'm just so happy it worked, I had a lot of fun making it.

Thanks for reading, enjoy your weekend!

Musical notes

Morning! It's another lovely day here in W Yorkshire, baby is asleep and I've the cards I made yesterday to share. I have two occasions to make cards for. One is for our singing group leader who set up the group a year ago, and has done loads of work with us, and the second a birthday card for my future brother in law. Both were made pretty much in the same way and after some inspiration from Nichol Magouirk (the frame) and Pops (white on white).

Here they are:

After watching Nichol's video, I took my stitched edge rectangle dies and cut the frame using two of the dies from white Bazzill textured card stock. I then cut the inside panel from white card and stamped the musical notes (they are Twinchies from Inkylicious, but I can't find them on their website - I got them at a show) in various colours with Memento and Ranger Dye Inks, adding a little glossy accents to them. I then put some musical washi tape around the outside of the card base, added foam tape to the frame and stuck it on, adding the middle with double sided. I reckon it would have been easier the other way around, but I only thought of that later!

The words are both Clearly Besotted, happy birthday and thanks. I die cut them with double sided tape attached, a great tip for making it easier to stick down once you've cut them. I added a little green gem to the dot for the 'i', because I always lose it when I peel it out, it is so tiny!

Thank you for reading, hope you have a great weekend :)

With sympathy

I was really quite saddened to hear of the sudden death of Jonathan Crombie, who played Gilbert Blythe in the Anne of Green Gables mini series I loved. It was a big part of my early teens and me and my sisters watched it whenever we could. That and a difficult day on Friday, has left me in a little bit of a somber mood, so I made a very simple sympathy card.

I'd also like to enter it into challenge #119 over at CAS(E) This Sketch. The cards up there are so good, but hey ho, I like to give things a go!

I started with a white card blank and simply stamped the rose in Memento Lady Bug, the little leaves under the rose in Versa Magic Hint of Pesto and the stem in Memento Cottage Ivy. The stamp is the free set from Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 133. Honestly, I've used this so often, I wonder why I buy stamps at all? I then coloured them in with my Derwent Artists pencils. I never realised how much I enjoy colouring. It is so therapeutic.

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted Sweet little sentiments set stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black onto some red paper and cut out with my Clearly Besotted Long Flag die.

Thanks for reading. I hope your day has been good. The sunshine came along here this afternoon so we had a play in the garden.

Butterflies and colours challenge 2

This is the other card. I enjoyed doing it because it's bright and reminds me a bit of minimalist block paintings a la Mark Rothko and others.

As with the previous card, it's a card blank, again using the butterflies from my free Clearly Besotted stamp set from Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 133. The background is from the Papermania capsule collection, background in yellow with red and blue blocks die cut from the Memory Box Stitched Rectangles. The butterflies are stamped again in Memento Dandelion, Bahama Blue and Lady Bug onto white card stock adhered to the card with foam pads.

Thanks for reading again - enjoy the weekend!

Butterflies and colours challenge

In a bit of a blog hop at the start of the week, I discovered House of Cards Challenge. I loved the colours of this month's challenge, so I thought I'd give it a go. I ended up doing two cards, the first of which I thought I'd enter. Challenges are new to me, but I'm constantly amazed at how different crafters interpret the brief. Such variety.

I adore the colours. It said to me: Simple. Primaries. Bright. 

It is simply a white card blank (14.75x10.5cm) stamped up with butterflies from my free Clearly Besotted set from Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 133. I stamped them using Memento dye inks - Dandelion, Bahama Blue, Lady Bug. I also die cut a small piece of yellow cardstock from my Papermania Capsule collection with my new Memory Box Stitched Rectangle dies. I did a bit of overlap stamping, so the butterflies are half on the yellow and half on the white. The panel was then attached with foam pads. The butterfly in the bottom right hand corner is stamped in all three colours - a bit of selective colouring from each pad, which is not that easy.

Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!

Another engagement!

This time my older sister, which is really lovely, although I rather hope she's not reading this because I haven't sent it yet! If she is - it'll be with you next week :)

As usual it's a white card blank. I'm favouring tent fold at the moment. I cut a piece of my new Papermania 6x6 smooth coloured card slightly smaller than the card base. I chose purple because of the fuschias. The stamps are from the free Clearly Besotted set from Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 133, and the inspiration for the card came from there as well as from Vixx Handmade Cards. 

The leaves are stamped in Versa Magic DewDrop Hint of Pesto and then fussy cut. The buds and flowers stamped in Jet Black Ranger Archival Ink onto water colour paper. I then took the opportunity to use my new Caran D'Ache Prismallo Aquarelles that I bought on holiday. I like them, and I'll practice a bit more with them. After the vibrancy of the Inktense pencils, these were different to work with. I fussy cut the fuschias out too and attached them all with foam pads to the card front.

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted's Mr & Mrs set. I rounded the corners of the card top with the reverse punch on my WRMK Envelope Punch Board and attached it with foam tape.

Thanks for reading and I'm hoping my sister likes it!